NYMEX crude opens $3.04/bbl higher, off record high of $70.80

New York (Platts)--29Aug2005

October crude futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange opened
$3.04/bbl higher at $69.17/bbl Monday after hitting an all-time high of
$70.80/bbl on Access as Hurricane Katrina slammed Louisiana and triggered
panic-style buying in overnight trading. Shut-in Gulf of Mexico production and
refinery closures heightened concerns about gasoline balances. Concerns have
centered around gasoline stocks with inventories having fallen 21.363-mil bbl
to 194.9-mil bbl over the past eight weeks. 
    September unleaded gasoline opened 22.31 cts higher at $2.15/gal after
hitting an all-time high of $2.1575/gal and September heating oil opened 14.04
cts higher at $1.9770/gal after posting a record $2.0137/gal.
    "We are maintaining our theme that the gasoline futures will be the
primary bullish beneficiary of the storm," energy consultant Jim Ritterbusch
said in a report. "In the crude oil, a 25-30-mil bbl supply cushion already
exists to dampen the impact of the storm losses and a release of SPR supplies
is already being maintained as a possibility."

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